


The Tiger Incident

by fandomgeek14



Series: Blood, Brains and Heart- an Morseverse AU [3]
Category: Endeavour (TV), Inspector Morse (TV), Lewis (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s03e03 Prey, Episode: s03e04 Coda, F/M, Falling In Love, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-19 00:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22468939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomgeek14/pseuds/fandomgeek14
Summary: September 1998, Cambridge University, the eighteen year old daughter of Inspector Morse tags along with a second year theology student, James Hathaway, and they both discover that their paths have been crossed once before, just not in the way they were expecting....
Relationships: Endeavour Morse & Fred Thursday, Endeavour Morse/Original Female Character(s), James Hathaway/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Blood, Brains and Heart- an Morseverse AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613458
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James Hathaway, and Morse's daughter have a discussion at a coffee shop nbd they soon realise they have something very much in common, in the form of an event from 1967.

"you're not very talkative are you?" 

"says the guy who's doing a year in the seminary"

"so what about your family then? you never really mention them" 

It was early September, and Katie Morse had just begun a three year course in Law and Criminology (although she only referred to it as Law because it was easier) and was currently sat in what was supposed to be a group study session between her and her new friends, only, three of her friends never turned up. Amelia, her hall mate was nursing a hangover, Sammie and Lira, two of Amelia's classmates were both in lectures for different modules and Daniel, Katie's fake boyfriend (to hide his sexuality from his overbearing and conservative parents), well he was probably sneaking off with his secret boyfriend, leaving Katie with the oldest member of their little group of new found friends, James. 

James Hathaway was a theology student in his third year out of a four year course. He was of a thin build, tall too, at six ft three, with blond hair and blue eyes, and was handsome enough to make literally any of the first years swoon. well, all of them except Katie of course, she was well aware he was dead set in going down the route of following in the Lords footsteps and doing his work as a priest, which, meant a vow of celibacy and no romances and of course she was going to honour that, besides, she technically had a boyfriend so obviously she wasn't attracted to James in the slightest, even if he was the first person she (literally) bumped into on campus and the only other person from Oxford that she had met so far, as if it was straight out of a cheesy romance novel. they were just friends. 

friends who had turned this group study session into a friendly chat, to get to know each other better. you know, like friends do.

so, James was sat opposite Katie, and Katie was being, well, Katie, acting too much like her father, and being hesitant to delve into her tragic backstory.

"I don't particularly like to talk about it in detail" Katie shrugged taking a sip of her large hot chocolate, with two sachets of sugar poured in, which would probably cause her parents to shake their heads in disapproval at. 

"okay, what do your parents do?" James asked out of curiosity, he'd told Katie about his dad, Philip, being the grounds keeper at Crevecoeur Hall's estate, but Katie had yet to make the connection that he had worked there during sixties and was the groundskeeper at the time her parents visited. 

"they work at Thames Valley" Katie looked at him "dad's the Chief Inspector there" 

"and your mum?" 

Katie didn't reply at that one and James realised what she was implying with her silence, he immediately became apologetic. 

"I'm sorry-" 

"no, don't be, I don't really remember her that much, she died when I was five- but she was a sergeant"

"oh, if you don’t mind me asking, how did she?" 

"suicide" Katie said simply "it was suicide" 

it wasn't suicide, Katie and her dad were convinced of it, there just wasn't any proof to say it wasn't apart from the broken oven clock which could easily be explained by her falling against the counter. and for the actual record, Katie did remember her mother, but it was hard to remember when your mind still goes to the scene your five year old self stumbled upon after being to sick to go out to see the fireworks on that fateful bonfire night, so she goes to fetch her mum to watch them from her bedroom window together because she saw a really big colourful one when she was supposed to be asleep in bed.

"probably shouldn't have told you that because it's a sin isn't it? a, no offense, stupid one at that”

"yes, but we're supposed to listen anyway, and I don’t think it's necessarily a stupid sin, you're throwing away the sanctity of life God gave you-" 

"God, James, stop being so-" 

"so what?" the blond looked at her 

"I don't know, preachy? I understand you're training to go into the seminary, but you don't have to be all holier than thou all the time, people might start thinking you're forcing your ideologies on them" 

"i'm not forcing people to believe in what i believe in or what i was taught" he paused "i'm guessing you're not exactly religious then?" 

"well, i've never actually been to church, if that's what you're asking, despite being baptised catholic, like my mum was as a baby, unlike her older brother uncle Peter, before they were separated to different care homes and mum was adopted out by my grandparents and my dad is more of an atheist, despite being raised a Quaker" Katie shrugged "I guess I'm more agnostic than anything, I'm open to there being a God but at the same time, it doesn't matter if there isn't" 

"don't let my sister hear you, she's probably worse than me"

"you have a sister?"

"Nell. she's younger"

"must be nice, having a sibling" 

"we don't really get on well" 

"you're sounding pessimistic"

"and you're not?"

"I'm ever the optimist" 

"optimists live longer" 

"pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised" 

"that's true" 

James smiled at how ridiculous their conversation had gotten, and Katie giggled for the same reason, as James looked at the younger student, he started to notice how nice her smile was, and how there were a few light freckles dotting her face to match with her auburn hair nicely pulled up in a ponytail. he shouldn't be noticing these things like that. not when he's supposed to be a priest in a couple of years, he cant be noticing these things because that would potentially lead to impure thoughts but he seriously couldn't help it. oh God help him, he was developing a crush, no more than a crush on Katie Morse. Morse? _Morse!_ he knew he'd recognised that name from somewhere! 

"that's it!" he exclaimed 

"what's it?" she jumped taken aback by her friend's suddenness

"was your dad ever involved in a case involving the Mortmaigne's estate? involving a certain orange creature with black stripes?" 

"yes, in fact both of my parents were- it was one of my favourite tales when i was younger- how-"

"-my dad was the groundskeeper at the estate during that time, he was the reason the whole case was brought over to the grounds all because he took a night class at the same time as the first victim and went out with her a few times" 

"Philip Hathaway, is your dad?" Katie asked and upon James' nod of confirmation she started laughing

"why are you laughing?" 

"out of all the people I could have bumped into, I had to bump into the guy from Oxford who just so happens to have a connection to my favourite story growing up through both of our parents being involved! it's bloody ridiculous!"

"it's surely fate" he joked

"fate didn't do that, it's a coincidence, a chance" Katie pointed out, downing her now lukewarm drink as she did so "there's no such thing as fate" 

"the Lord works in mysterious ways" James deadpanned earning a playful shove from his friend before she cringed as the song changed along with the conversation. 

"dear God, if I hear this Celine Dion song one more time- I'd be tempted to throw myself off of Kings College chapel spire! like one of the characters in I think it was, Tosca? Oh Dad’s not going to be too impressed with me for not knowing that” 

"I don't know, the film was pretty good" 

"yeah, but i'd prefer it if it was _just_ about the _RMS Titanic_ "

"you'd lose half the movie then, but i have to agree I am sick of hearing this song"

"we finally agreed on something" 

"come on, let's go before you end up bashing your head against the wall"

Katie smiled in agreement as James got up with his bag and started to head out the door. 

"come on _Morse"_

Katie picked up her stuff and rushed after James, who was holding the door open like a 'proper gentleman' he was, strolling past him as she exited the shop with a smile.

"thanks _Hathaway_ "

James felt like he really liked it when she said his surname, it kind of made him- no. that was completely against his teachings, almost having those types of thoughts, twice! in under an hour! but he couldn't seem to stop them and God clearly wasn't going to help him out of this one. he was going to just have to ignore it. ignore the crush he had on her. however, as he looked at Katie walking in front of him, he realised one flaw with that plan.

this wasn't a crush.

he, James Hathaway, third year Theology student, was in love with Katie Morse.

and unlike that tiger attack in 1967, there was no stopping it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1967, Crevecoeur Hall.  
> DC Jemma Thursday ends up in the maze with two Mortmaigne’s, DC Morse and a Tiger that’s about to pounce. She finally accepts her feelings towards the Detective and maybe, just maybe, he’s had the same realisation about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a better version of this but I didn't save it (oops) all well, hope you enjoyed the story, there will be more on the way (when I get round to it!!!!)

“Do you have someone who loves you?”   
that was a question Jemma Thursday had not been expecting whilst on a walk to clear her head in a bloody hedge maze on a Friday afternoon.  
Crevecoeur Hall, nice place and she really would have appreciated the magnificence of the place, more had it not been for her throbbing headache, but even then she couldn’t deny it’s beauty. it was one of the Mortmaignes who suggested going for a walk, Her dad, Inspector Thursday, had agreed and let her go, so she could have some fresh air. She’d decided to go for a walk in the maze and bumped into Julia Mortmaigne and baby Milo whilst on their walk to the center of the labyrinth. It was Julia who asked the question.

”no, I thought there was a couple of years ago but he turned out to be- well, let’s just say he sought to control me, rather than love me” 

“oh, sorry, it’s just I thought you and that other Constable were a thing” 

“Oh me and Morse? No, we’re just friends, I doubt he’d ever see me in that way and I’m fine with that” 

she was fine with that, really, she was. It’s just annoying that she has to go into a panic every time he did something reckless or feeling her stomach drop every time he looked at Joan a certain way. It wasn’t like she fancied him, sure, he was smart and solved impossible cases. But she only saw him as a friend and so did he or at least she thought that. 

"really? I thought the way he looked at you-"  
  
“Well, in any case, when you do, find the right person make sure you hold onto him, hold on to every second, you don’t quite know when or how it would end” 

Okay, now Jemma could see that advice was coming from somewhere genuine, considering what had happened to Julia's husband on their honeymoon but it was weird taking advice from a person she barely knew.

"hold on, what do you mean the way he looked-" 

_bang!_

a gunshot echoed throughout the maze, startling the trio and began to make Jemma very concerned as to what was happening "okay, i'm sure that was nothing to worry about but I'm going to go and find out-" Jemma started to move towards the entrance, Julia following slightly behind, but before she could reach it, in hurried Morse. 

"Morse? what's happening?"

"what's going on?"

"shh, stay by me" he said guiding Julia to stay by him. 

the poor man looked terrified, Jemma didn't think she'd never seen Morse this scared before, not even when Mason Gull was toying with him, two years ago, he didn't panic as much as he was now, or when her father, DI Thursday got shot and that was freaking her out, making her headache worse. 

"Morse? what's going on?"

"DC Thursday-"

Morse's eyes widened slightly and he breathed out shakily as he glanced at the entrance, Jemma followed his gaze and she honestly couldn't believe what she was seeing. a tiger. a real tiger entering the space, a hungry one at that and they were trapped. she backed towards Morse, quickly but cautiously as the tiger circled the area, backing them into a corner, and pushing over Milo's pram in the process, the baby started crying. Jemma shook as fear struck her bones however she was suddenly comforted by something. 

Morse’s hand found hers for a second, giving it a squeeze of reassurance, that everything was going to be fine lingering, if only for a for a second too long, before dropping it. but how could everything be okay if they're in mortal danger from a creature they'd never expect to inhabit and threaten Oxford? 

then Morse opened his goddamn mouth. 

“when it jumps, you run” 

“what? No!” Julia said 

"you too, Jemma" 

“no, Morse, you can’t-” Jemma's sense of fear had changed, as she completely missed the fact that he had never called her by her first name before, she was feeling even more scared as she tore her terrified stare from the tiger to the other Detective Constable, it wasn’t for her life that she was scared for, it was for Morse's “don’t”

The tiger got ready to pounce, she heard a yell from the entrance "Morse! Jemma!" 

the tiger leapt, and Jemma's legs locked in fear. refusing to move, she glanced at Morse once more, before she closed her eyes bracing herself for the inevitable.   
only the inevitable never came. only another loud noise and the smell of gun smoke. 

she opened her eyes, to find the beautiful but dangerous creature, laying still on the ground. adreniline running through her, she collapsed into sitting pn the floor with relief. 

"Jemma are you alright?" 

Jemma's adopted father, DI Fred Thursday was there, checking up on her as any father did. she nodded unable to tear her gaze from the tiger in front of her, as she heard the sound of throwing up from a few feet away.

"Morse?" Thursday said

Morse indicated he was fine, before throwing up once more from the shock. 

"thank you sir” Morse said to Bright who was holding the smoking gun. 

“shame, such a magnificent creature” Bright commented

”well it was either the tiger or Morse and Jemma” Thursday said

“yes, yes, still a shame anyway” 

* * *

A few eventful weeks, or even months later, and the Friday after Joan left to find her feet after a bank robbery gone wrong, the two Detective Constables were walking up to the Thursday residence after coming back from the _Eagle and Lion_ pub. Morse had suggested it, actually, completely out of the blue, the day Joan left and Jemma had agreed, guessing that Morse needed some company after losing the girl he so obviously liked. she was wrong in that aspect 

Jemma looked at the Auburn haired Detective as they reached the gate.

"you didn't have to buy all the rounds Morse" 

"I wanted to"

"I'll pay you back on Monday"

"it's on me" Morse smiled before looking up at the sky, glancing at the darkening clouds above them before looking back to Jemma, "I suppose I'd better be off, those rain clouds don't look to friendly"

"well you could always come inside? mum probably has a cuppa brewing" 

"i should probably get back" Morse declined, he did not want to overstay his welcome. 

"oh okay, then, night"

"night" 

Morse started to walk away from the dark haired constable, that he had developed certain feelings for over the two years they had known each other, to the point where last month after the Tiger incident he'd started to pluck up the courage to ask her out for a drink at least, but it hadn't been until his life was put in peril days ago in a bank robbery that he realised that he couldn't actually risk letting this moment pass by, especally since he hadn;t had feelings that strongly towards anyone since- well, since Susan. 

Jemma, had to know, something had been nagging at her since Crevecrover. was Julia Mortmaigne being nice when she said Morse looked at her in a certain way or was she telling a truth? and she couldn't just let it go, but was now the right time? well obviously her brain had decided it was because her mouth betrayed her with the words. 

"Morse" Morse turned around at the sound of his name "what was tonight?" 

Jemma was nervous, he could see it. and he was starting to get nervous himself, he had not anticipated this, he had hoped to just slip away without any explanations and hold onto that secret for a while longer but evidently this was not how this interaction was going. 

"I don't know" he was hesitant but he had to tell her the truth, otherwise, neither of them would make the first move they'd wanted to make unbeknownst to the other or even themselves since they met, "I suppose i intended it to be a drink between friends, but after the tiger and then the bank- I couldn't ignore the fact that i have feelings for you, good ones, and I couldn't risk losing you without doing something about it" he explained 

Jemma's heart thumped a thousand times faster (which was probably bad considering she had a heart condition that only a select few knew about) as she realised what Morse was admitting to- he had feelings, for her. but she couldn't believe it, she wouldn't believe it, it was, just- just a load of rubbish. 

"no" 

"no?" Morse frowned in confusion at her dismissal 

"no, you're in love with Joan, it makes sense, you and her, not you and me, you looked at her with affection, she teased you in a flirty kind of way and you enjoyed it, and even though i saw those interactions, and it hurt to watch because even though I've only realised it recently, i was falling in love with you, I still ignored my feelings, because, i knew you could never love me back, i'm the out of place adopted daughter of your boss, the biological sister of a sergeant you spent half of your career together not seeing eye to eye, the beaten and bruised ex girlfriend of a guy who hated you, without even meeting you and you're- well you, brilliant, a genius, someone I think is perfect - you deserved to be happy and the chances i have of us being a thing are getting farther and father away from reality each day because I don't deserve to be"

Jemma froze, realising that she had let slip her feelings towards the other Constable, she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, as she noticed the Auburn haired man staring at her having his own kind of realisation, there was no point in denying it, she liked him and- Morse liked her, and now they both knew it, but where does that leave them now? where do they go from here? would her and Morse just go on as if that didn't happen? 

she got her answer soon enough, as Morse having the exact same realisation and on top of that realising that she was having a hard time believing in his truth, did something his gut told him to, an instinct laying dormant for two years. 

he kissed her. 

* * *

Jemma's adopted father, Detective Inspector Fred Thursday was watching the entire interaction between his youngest and his bagman unfold from his living room window. neither him or Win had not intended to stay up to wait for Jemma to come home, and they both knew she would be alright with Morse, as they trusted him fully and completely to get her home safe, but after Joan running away a few days ago, with no indication as to where she was going, they had a right to be worried. He saw Morse go in for the kiss and Jemma reciprocating it getting over the shock quickly, and he found that, actually, he didn't mind Morse doing that at all, they'd honestly be good for each other, especially after the ordeal they've been put through, they deserved it. However, he did have the urge to mess with his daughter just a little and knock on the window. 

he resisted it for Morse's sake. 

he let go of the curtain, to give them privacy and a few minutes later, he heard the door shut, getting up from his seat, he poked his head round the doorway into the hall. 

"got home safely then, Jemma?" 

"yes" Jemma rolled her eyes 

"i trust Morse looked after you alright?" he asked a knowing look in his eyes 

"of course" Jemma replied "as friends would" as if nothing had happened but her smile betrayed her and her father knew it, the look of a lovestruck young girl. 

she was utterly head over heals for detective constable Morse and nothing could separate them. not even death, something that, eighteen years later would, prove to be wrong. 

but for now, in that moment, Jemma Thursday didn't care, she loved Morse and Morse loved her. and that, was enough.


End file.
